Lock and Key

Blinding Lights

That morning Grace was woken up by the sound of footsteps coming towards her room. Upon waking up she was slightly disoriented, but was relieved to find that she was in one of countless guest rooms rather than in her childhood bed room. Being there, in the room she'd grew up in, would have felt far too familiar. Grace rubbed her eyes as the door opened and she was addressed by a member of the house's staff.

"Ms. Monroe, your parents request your presence for breakfast." she said seriously. Grace sat up and looked at the woman. Her name tag read "Lauren". Grace stretched and grabbed the crutches near her bed and began preparing to go downstairs to meet with her parents. Lauren shook her head.

"Your parents have told me to specify that they expect you to be showered and dressed before meeting them for breakfast." she said. Grace looked down at her clothes. They were the same clothes that she'd been wearing for months, though she had washed them as recently as yesterday, thanks to the washing machines near the motel. This was the only outfit she had considering what had occurred with her other clothes. "Look in the closet, a wardrobe has been provided for you." Lauren added. Grace did as she asked and opened the closet to find that it was stuffed with countless up to date outfits all in her size.

She considered the idea that her parents had correctly guessed her size and filled the closet while she was asleep. Or alternatively, that they just kept closets full of clothes sized for a teenager just in case she returned. Grace wasn't sure what would have been worse. Lauren still stood there awkwardly. "There is a shower in this room. In addition, your parents have asked me to take your current outfit to be washed." The way Lauren fidgeted Grace could tell she was lying. She was fairly sure that if she handed the woman these clothes she would never see them again.

"I'll give them to you after my shower." Grace said. It was a lie but she didn't feel bad about saying it. Lauren nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. Grace let out a deep sigh of discontent. She'd known that her parents' somewhat bewildering response to her return last night had been out of shock rather than actual change of character but it didn't stop her from wishing it had been. Grace felt annoyed at herself for even hoping that her mother would have become the kind of woman who'd make her green tea or that her father would become the kind of man that accepted when she denied a request.

Grace braced herself for whatever bullshit was waiting for her downstairs and decided to take her shower. Hot, running water was something of a luxury on the train and while the Mall car had it, Grace certainly hadn't had access to it in quite a while. Baths in a freezing cold lake were certainly nothing compared to the miracle of indoor plumbing. Finishing her shower Grace took another look at the closet packed to bursting with outfits that while certainly nice looking and definitely expensive, weren't to her taste. If Grace had gotten off the train five months ago she probably would have just thrown on what they'd bought her to avoid conflict. After what Grace had been through a fight with her parents sounded almost enjoyable.

She threw on what she'd been wearing when she arrived. It was still clean, it was comfortable, and it would piss off her parents. All of those seemed like a win for Grace. Approaching the dining room as she rounded the corner she saw her parents before they saw her. Her mother sat on one end of the table, a copy of "The Virtue of Selfishness" in hand as she picked at her eggs benedict. Her father sat on the opposite end of the table, ignoring his biscuits and gravy in favor of his laptop on which he typed away at some document Grace couldn't see, his focus only interrupted by intermittent sips from his black coffee. At the sound of her approaching the both looked up. Neither said anything about her outfit at least not directly.

"Well you look comfortable this morning." her mother said, dancing on the line of ordering Grace to go change. Grace took her comment at face value.